Borrower Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler) learns to trust gentle human Shawn (David Henrie).
Just beneath the floorboards of an old country house, hidden in the cracks and crevices of the weathered wood, resides a family of tiny people, or “borrowers” as they refer to themselves. When the home’s inhabitants (full-sized humans) are sound asleep, the borrowers come out to, well, borrow. These miniature beings work not by magic, but by ingenuity—tape assists in scaling furniture and sewing pins double as swords—to retrieve raw materials such as sugar and thread from around the humans’ house. They’re not insatiable thieves; rather, they gather only what they need to survive from day to day. The pocket-sized family of three—dad, mom, and daughter—remains together in the shadows, working and living in secret for the sake of their safety. That is, of course, until they are noticed by a human boy one fateful night.
Based on popular book series The Borrowers by Mary Norton, The Secret World of Arrietty is an animated adventure following a 14-year-old borrower, Arrietty, and the unlikely and even dangerous friendship she forms with an adolescent human, Shawn. Arrietty was created and first released by renowned Studio Ghibli (whose films Spirited Away and Ponyo have seen both critical and box office success) in Japan in 2010, quickly becoming the highest-grossing film at the box office that year, even going on to win the Animation of the Year Award. Now American audiences have the chance to witness this remarkable film firsthand when the English-language version from Walt Disney Animation Studios hits theaters nationwide on February 17.
Arrietty rides high on Shawn's shoulder.
“There’s really no other job quite like working on a Studio Ghibli film for English audiences,” Academy Award-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom—whose credits include Titanic, Finding Nemo, and War Horse, to name a few—says. Gary was tapped to helm the English-language adaptation of Arrietty, originally directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. “Normally, when you record voices for an animated film, you’re recording before there’s much animation. You’re discovering the story and building up the script and the characters and the dialogue as you go along. With Arrietty, we had to fi t everything into the existing story.” Screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) was brought in to pen the English-language Arrietty script—an unusual and decidedly difficult assignment. Not only was Karey tasked with preserving the integrity of the original Studio Ghibli version, but each line of dialogue had to match up with the existing film—down to the syllable. “A writer wants to bring his skill set and experience to any writing project, but I was limited because the story had already been told,” Karey explains. “My mission was to bring clarity that fit within the existing story, but to make it play for American sensibilities without destroying what Studio Ghibli does so well. Once I got my head around it, it ended up being fulfilling.”
A capable cast of actors (Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, and Carol Burnett, among others) was brought in to take on the challenge presented by the pre-animated project. “The casting is important,” Gary tells D23. “Each cast member brings something unique. It’s a very funny process where you don’t have absolute freedom—you have to match syllables, more or less, but still make it sound natural.” Bridgit, who currently stars on hit Disney Channel show Good Luck Charlie, was approached to voice spirited redhead Arrietty. “Of course I said yes!” she says remembering her response to the invitation. “I knew this would be a wonderful project, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to be a part of it.” Unsurprisingly, it was an experience unlike any she’d had previously. “It was so interesting because I’d be in the voiceover session, and there’d maybe be a line that they’d written down that didn’t quite match, so they’d literally have me add an ‘um’ or an ‘okay’ as filler,” Bridgit recalls. “I think they did a great job of lining up the animation and the script. I’m very excited for people to see it!”
Arrietty shows off her first "borrowing" to her mother (Amy Poehler).
It’s no wonder the film has fans around the globe—The Secret World of Arrietty is a timeless tale that explores the bonds of family, the limitations of friendship and the struggles of survival in a world that’s, quite literally, larger than life. And with stunning animation (for which Studio Ghibli is known), an ethereal score and a capable vocal cast, Arrietty is sure to find a whole new set of supporters with its upcoming English-language release. “The Secret World of Arrietty has so much heart. It’s a wonderful story about breaking free of restrictions and having a relationship with something outside of your own world and breaking into the larger world out there,” Gary says. “It truly is a magical film.”
By D23′s Sarah Smith
